


We Can Keep Him Safe

by StringedVictory



Category: Girl Genius
Genre: Angst, Childhood Trauma, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Nightmares, Polyamory, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2014-03-10
Packaged: 2018-01-15 06:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1294039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StringedVictory/pseuds/StringedVictory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tarvek wakes up from a nightmare with some very real fears. Agatha and Gil reassure him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Can Keep Him Safe

**Author's Note:**

> This grew out of a conversation with [savagescribbles](http://archiveofourown.org/users/timeandcelery/pseuds/savagescribbles).

_“Where’s Mama?” he asks. He’s twelve and scared and there’s something wrong about the room he’s in, something deeply off about everything going on around him, but he doesn’t know what it is._

_“Mama’s gone,” says his sister with a sickly sweet fake grin. “Mama’s not coming back.”_

_“Why?” he says, a note of terror creeping into his voice. “What happened to her?” She only stares at him, grin never wavering. “What did you do to her?”_

_“Nothing,” she says. “I didn’t do anything to Mama.”_

_“What happened to her?” he says again, voice building to a shriek. “Who was it? Who hurt our Mama?”_

_“You did,” she says with a giggle. He looks down and the controls to the machine are in his hands, and suddenly he isn’t a child anymore, he’s a grown man, but he’s still wearing knee pants, and the room looks smaller, and his sister’s face is different but she still towers over him, and all he can do is scream._

 

Tarvek wakes up, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. He half expects to see the stiff canopy of his bed at Sturmhalten hanging over him, but by the moonlight coming through the window he can recognize the blurry forms of the boudoir furnishings at Castle Heterodyne. To his right he can barely make out the features of Agatha’s face, and he touches her arm to reassure himself as she snores gently.

He rolls over onto his other side, still shaking, and sees that Gil is awake, and he doesn’t need his glasses to recognize the look of concern on that face.

“Hey,” whispers Gil. “You all right?”

Tarvek starts to nod before he realizes he isn’t fooling anyone. Instead he shakes his head, and the tight feeling in his throat gives way to silent tears.

“Nightmares again?” inquires Gil.

Tarvek nods. “I was at Sturmhalten, and Anevka was there, and she… I was just finding out that our mother was gone, and I…” He finds himself unable to manage any noise more coherent than a horrid sniffly sob, and he winces with embarrassment.

Gil reaches out a hand to squeeze his shoulder. “You don’t have to talk about it.”

“Thanks.” Gil gives his shoulder a gentle push, signaling him to roll over. Once he does, Gil starts gently rubbing his back. It’s not the first time he has done so, under such circumstances, and Tarvek is as grateful now as ever. He listens to Gil’s breathing and Agatha’s snoring for a long moment. Gradually, his own breathing calms and finds a rhythm with theirs.

“The worst part was,” he says quietly, aware that Gil will neither stop him in the telling nor press him for more details. “The worst part was, this time it wasn’t Anevka. In the dream Anevka wasn’t the one who did it to my mother. It was me.”

“Tarvek,” says Gil. “Tarvek, it’s going to be just fine.” From anyone else, the words would be empty platitudes, but he’s glad to hear Gil say them.

“I guess I’m just afraid,” Tarvek continues. “Afraid I’ll be like that when, you know. That I’ll be like my family was to me.”

“You won’t,” says Gil. “I know you won’t.” He takes Tarvek’s left hand in his and gives it a gentle squeeze. Then he guides it over to rest on the prominent convex curve of Agatha’s belly. Tarvek only has to wait a moment before he feels a tiny, sharp kick against his hand.

“Hmmm?” Groggily, Agatha pulls the sleep mask from her eyes. She only has to glance at Tarvek’s face before the realization dawns across hers. “Oh no.” She kisses the tip of his nose. “We’re here, Tarvek. We’re not going anywhere.” She joins Gil in pressing Tarvek’s hand against her navel.

Tarvek doesn’t know what to say, so he lets Gil and Agatha arrange themselves snugly around him. Another kick comes, harder this time, and Tarvek is astonished at how forceful it feels against his palm. Agatha can’t help but smile slightly when she sees the look of surprise on his face.

“How do you sleep through it?” he asks.

Agatha shrugs. “I figure in a few months we’ll be kept up all night by the constant fussing. The kicking isn’t so bad.” She reaches out to stroke his hair, and then yawns. “Besides, it’s not hard to sleep when I’m this tired.”

He kisses her softly on the cheek. “Then you should go back to sleep.”

“You sure?”

Tarvek nods. “There’s something nice about your snoring. It’s comforting.”

Agatha chuckles almost soundlessly; Tarvek can only tell because he feels her breath on his face. She tugs her sleep mask back into place and rearranges her pillow. Before long her breathing turns back into a soft droning noise.

Gil leans over Tarvek, propping himself up on an elbow. “You’ll be all right?” It’s a question and a promise at once.

“Yeah,” whispers Tarvek. “Thanks.”

Gil adjusts their side of the bedclothes. “We’ll figure it out together.” He kisses Tarvek on the cheek. “You’ll do great, I know you will.” Gil slides an arm around Tarvek’s waist, and soon his breathing slows and deepens.

For the first time, Tarvek believes him.


End file.
